Night of No Moon
by EternalLove
Summary: On the night of no moon Kagome is transported to another world where youkai are the dominating species. In order to go back she must solve an ancient mystery before the night of no moon comes again or else she is trapped in that world forever.
1. The Lost Ring

*I'll only say this once, Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takashi ~ -- this thingy means the story is jumping to a different time  
  
The Lost Ring  
  
Kagome peered into the darkness, staring at an old deteriorating building. It had been built  
  
hundreds and hundreds of years ago and it was falling apart. There were holes everywhere  
  
and it slumped as if age had put a burden on its shoulders. Everybody left it alone for some  
  
strange reason. Even the groups of unruly teens left it alone, never desecrating the structure.  
  
It was ancient and looked as if it had survived everything, from thunderstorms to hurricanes.  
  
But the feeling of it was not age, but something that was timeless.  
  
"Go on, it's your dare." whispered Yuka.  
  
Her friend gently pushed her towards the building. After going to a scary movie at the  
  
theater, Kagome had bragged about being bored throughout the whole movie. Her friends,  
  
being scared witless, decided to have her do a dare. Conveniantly, they were walking pass the  
  
old house. She took a big gulp and entered the doorway after one last look at her friends.  
  
*Maybe boasting about how brave I am wasn't the smart thing to do....* It was dark inside  
  
with flickers of shadows that appeared to be some monster at every corner. She carefully tip-  
  
toed in what appeared to be the main room. It was large with fallen roof beams cluttering the  
  
ground. There was no moon tonight and the darkness of the room made shivers dance across  
  
her skin. While she was picking her way to the other side something caught her eye. It  
  
glittered just once but it was enough to make Kagome curious. She moved closer to where she  
  
saw it and got down on her hands and knees to search for it. She skimmed her fingers across  
  
the wooden boards till she felt something cold and hard underneath her fingertips. She picked  
  
it up and held it close to her face. It was too dark to distinguish it but she could tell it was a  
  
ring. She slipped it onto her ring finger and found that it fit perfectly. Then Kagome froze, she  
  
could feel something pulling her. Not physically, but inside, she could feel something pulling  
  
at her. A bright light flashed in the room, blinding her for several minutes. During that time  
  
she felt like she was floating in midair with that pulling feeling still there. Then she fell onto  
  
soft ground and it all stopped. She put her hands over her eyes for a while till she realized she  
  
was laying on grass. *Grass? Kami, there wasn't any grass in the room!* She put her hands  
  
down and opened her eyes cautiously. She was in a dense forest and there was the quiet  
  
humming of the wind passing through. A bush shook at her right and she jumped to her feet,  
  
ready to run. A small rabbit hopped out, making Kagome jump. Seeing the cute animal she  
  
picked it up but nearly dropped it when she saw the rabbit's features. It was a bright red-  
  
brown color with large green eyes staring back at her. And instead of a small tuff of hair in the  
  
back, it bore a long fluffy one.  
  
"You're a funny looking rab-"  
  
Kagome stopped in the middle of the sentence, tilting her ear toward something in the  
  
distance. She could hear trees crashing....something was coming towards them quickly. She  
  
hugged the rabbit close to her and braced herself for the attack. It came soon and exploded  
  
from a clump of trees. She shut her eyes tightly and hugged the rabbit even tighter.  
  
Something grabbed the cute animal from her hands and she opened her eyes. In front of her  
  
was a young man, near her age, who was holding the rabbit by the skin on it's neck. She  
  
couldn't see him too clearly but he was wearing a red haori and it looked as if he was going to  
  
beat the rabbit to a pulp. Fear disappeared into anger as she snatched the rabbit from his  
  
hands.  
  
"What are you doing?! Give him back!" he growled and tried to grab the rabbit but she kept it  
  
out of his reach.  
  
"Don't bully him! What did a rabbit ever do to you?"  
  
Quick as lightning, he seized the rabbit and shook it hard.  
  
"Change back you little-"  
  
"Hey!" she tried to get him back but the man held it away from her. There was small pop and a  
  
bit of green smoke coming from the rabbit. She pushed the man hard and made him fall on his  
  
rump and grabbed the animal again. It wasn't a rabbit but...a fox boy?  
  
"What are you?"  
  
"A kitsune."  
  
Her eyebrows raised a second and she just stared at him.  
  
"Kawaii!!!!" she hugged the kitsune while the young man dropped his mouth.  
  
"Kawaii? This little annoying thing?! Give him back, he needs to be punished!"  
  
At that the fox boy buried his face into the crook of her arm.  
  
"Don't let him beat me up! I'm just a helpless little kid."  
  
"Why you little-"  
  
Kagome held out an arm and stopped him from coming any closer.  
  
"Don't even try it, you leave him alone!"  
  
"You have absolutly no authority to tell me that. I'll toss you in the dungeon if you don't give  
  
him back to me."  
  
"Dungeon? Hah! A little old world, aren't we? I'll drag you straight to the cops!"  
  
"Cops? What are you talking about? Did you hit your head or something?"  
  
"You don't know what cops are? Maybe you hit your head!"  
  
"That's it, you're going to the dungeon." he started to move and Kagome panicked. Suddenly, a  
  
blue light exploded out of her hand and hit the man hard, making him crash into a tree.  
  
Groaning, he got up and held his stomach.  
  
"What the hell was that?"  
  
Kagome looked down at her own hand.  
  
"I-I don't know."  
  
While she was looking down at her hand he used the distraction to move quickly behind her  
  
and tap her shiatsu sleep spot. She dropped into his arms and he tossed her over his  
  
shoulder. The kitsune started to back away from him, looking around for an escape.  
  
"Hehehe, uh, I was just joking back there! Just a joke!"  
  
Inuyasha glared menacingly down at him.  
  
"You call dumping a statue on my head a joke? Hehehe, that's the best understatement I've  
  
ever heard."  
  
By the time he had ended the sentence he had knocked the kitsune out with a punch on it's  
  
head. Holding his two captives he started his way back to the palace, his home.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Her eyes flickered open and was disturbed with what she saw. A dungeon. *What kind of guy  
  
is he, to keep a dungeon around and put people in it! Where does he fit one anyway? Under  
  
his house?* She groaned as she got up, her muscles aching from the biting cold floor. She  
  
looked around and surveyed the place. It was dark except for a torch that lit a small corridor.  
  
She could see that there were other dungeons about but couldn't tell if there were anybody  
  
else in them. Her cell was made with hard stones and it was freezing.  
  
"Are you awake?" said a small voice in the corner.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
The little fox boy from the forest came out from the corner.  
  
"It's me."  
  
"Oh, come here, you must be freezing."  
  
The boy scrambled to Kagome's lap and buried himself in her shirt.  
  
"Just a little, my fur keeps most of the cold away."  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
"Shippo."  
  
"How come that man put a little boy like you in the dungeon?"  
  
"I played a joke on him, that idiot took it seriously."  
  
"What did you do to him?"  
  
"Errrr, dumped a statue on his head."  
  
"What? But that would have killed him!"  
  
"Oh no, not Inuyasha, his head is harder than a rock. The funny thing is that there isn't  
  
anything inside of it."  
  
"Inuyasha...that's the man who put us in here?"  
  
"Yup, say, what's your name?"  
  
"Kagome."  
  
"Why did he put you in here? You're one of his kind."  
  
"His kind? What are you talking about?"  
  
Shippo gave a confused face.  
  
"Aren't you one of those higher youkai?"  
  
"Youkai? Youkai don't exist."  
  
"Maybe Inuyasha is right, did you hit your head?"  
  
"Youkai don't exist."  
  
"Then what am I?"  
  
*Come to think of it...Shippo doesn't look like a normal boy* She held up the kitsune and  
  
tugged at his tail gently.  
  
"Hey, don't do that."  
  
"Sorry, just checking to see if you were wearing a costume."  
  
"Costume? I'm 100% youkai. See?"  
  
Shippo disappeared in a poof and in his place was a pinkish balloon.  
  
"Is that you, Shippo?"  
  
"Yup, I can change into things."  
  
"But...but...that's impossible, youkai are just a legend. Where am I???"  
  
"In the Inuyoukai's realm. This is the most powerful youkai kingdom in the world."  
  
"Inuyoukai..."  
  
Steps echoed in the corridor and Kagome stood up and went up to the iron bars. He was the  
  
oddest looking person Kagome had ever seen. He was tall with four arms that held different  
  
types of weapons and his skin color was a dark, dark blue.  
  
"Ano, could you let me out? I haven't done anything at all."  
  
"By his royal highness's decree, you are to come before the court." he said in a monotonous  
  
tone. One of his arms held a key and it opened the cell door.  
  
"Wait, what about Shippo?"  
  
"The prince has ordered that the kitsune be left in here for a few decades till he apologizes for  
  
being so foolish."  
  
"Oy! He can't do that to me!"  
  
Shippo jumped at the man but Kagome caught him before he could touch the guard.  
  
"Shippo," she whispered, "can you change into something really small? Maybe I can fit you  
  
into my pocket."  
  
"Yeah, but, the guard will see the smoke."  
  
"Excuse me, guard?"  
  
Yes mistress."  
  
Kagome ignored the mistress part.  
  
"May I just have a few moments so I can part with Shippo?"  
  
"I can give you two minutes."  
  
He stepped out of the cell and moved several feet away. Shippo changed as quietly as he  
  
could but the poof was still loud. Kagome coughed a few times to hide the sound. Shippo  
  
changed into a red brown bracelet with green jewels. Kagome stepped out of the cell and the  
  
guard silently led the way out. When he opened the door, Kagome expected to see a normal  
  
room on the other side. But to her dismay it was another corridor that soon led to a pair of  
  
shoji doors. He slid them open and waited for Kagome to go first. They were in a hallway that  
  
was richly decorated and there were a few servants scurrying around. For some reason they  
  
bowed in Kagome's presence. She just nodded her head, blushing. *Why are they bowing?  
  
This guy must be rich to have this kind of old decor* Finally he came to a door that bore a  
  
curious emblem. It was a formidable looking white dog with small purple jewels bordering it.  
  
The guard opened the door for her and bowed as she stepped in. It was a large room, boasting  
  
nearly a hundred people in it. They all appeared human but were dressed oddly. They were  
  
all wearing clothes that looked as if it came from several hundred years ago. Kagome looked  
  
down at her own modern clothing, a pair of blue jeans and a light blue sweater. Everybody  
  
stared at her, just watching and scrutinizing her figure. A few of them even sniffed at her.  
  
They parted to give her space to move to the front of the room. The front part of the room  
  
was raised higher and on it were three people. One of them was the man from the forest, he  
  
crossed his arms and looked gruffly at her. The other two were sitting down and were more  
  
richly dressed than any other person in the room. The male wore white with silver and gold  
  
on the edges. The woman wore a stunning 6 layer kimono with various colors, from red to  
  
purple. The man motioned Kagome to come closer to the platform.  
  
"Excuse me, sir, but it's against the law to imprison someone when they have done nothing at  
  
all."  
  
The room became dead quiet.  
  
The man looked at Kagome more closely.  
  
"Young lady, you have no authority to say that to your king."  
  
*King?!! Nani?? What's going on here?*  
  
"Um, your majesty, I wasn't aware that you were a king."  
  
Several people in the room gasped. The king was about to say something but the woman  
  
beside him touched his arm gently.  
  
"Let me handle this dear. Now, from what family do you come from?"  
  
"Higurashi."  
  
"Higurashi? I do not know any high youkai's family by the name of Higurashi."  
  
"I'm not youkai."  
  
There were more gasps again. The queen raised a delicatly painted eyebrow.  
  
"Not youkai?" The queen leaned over and whispered to her husband's ear. He nodded and  
  
made a signal with his hands. At that signal everybody in the room began to file out and soon  
  
it was empty, save the king and queen, Inuyasha, and Kagome.  
  
"You say you are not youkai, then what are you? A goddess? Or, perhaps one of those ghosts?"  
  
"I'm human, your majesty."  
  
"Human? Impossible! There hasn't-" blurted out Inuyasha.  
  
"Inuyasha, calm yourself. I think what my son is saying is that there is only one known human  
  
in this realm."  
  
"Only one? What kind of world is this??"  
  
The king stroked his chin in thought.  
  
"What do you mean by world?"  
  
"I'm saying that where I come from, none of this exists."  
  
"You are from another world?"  
  
"I..I think so. Nothing here is familiar."  
  
"You are a witch then?"  
  
"No, I just, something took me here."  
  
"There are no witches here powerful enough to pull someone from another world. Are you  
  
lying?"  
  
"No, look! When I put this ring on, some light flashed and the next thing I know, I'm here."  
  
"Come closer and let me look at this time ring."  
  
Kagome came closer and put her hand out by the king. He took it and stared hard at the ring.  
  
"Kami." he whispered. "It can't be."  
  
"What is it dear?" sadi the queen.  
  
"Young lady, can you take the ring off?"  
  
Kagome tried to pull the ring off, it was stuck fast. She tried several times but ended up  
  
yelping from her stretched skin.  
  
"I see, then it must be true."  
  
"Dear, what is it?" the queen asked again.  
  
"The lost ring of Shikon."  
  
*please review and tell me what you think of this story!!!! 


	2. The Birthday

The Birthday  
  
"Ano...what is the Shikon?" Kagome asked.  
  
But her question went ignored by the barrage of questions that Inuyasha threw out to  
  
his father.  
  
"You mean it still exists? How long have you known about this father? Will there be a  
  
chance to recover the Shikon back to the kingdom?"  
  
"Inuyasha, be quiet." said the queen.  
  
To Kagome's surprise he listened right away and fell silent.  
  
"The lost ring of Shikon was one of the kingdom's most precious and most treasured  
  
artifacts. The ring itself was to have a mind of it's own and holds a great amount of raw  
  
power. But there is a space in the ring to hold the sacred jewel Shikon", the king paused  
  
to point at a empty hole in the middle of the ring. "The Shikon is said to grant the desire  
  
of any who held it. But it's full potential can't be tapped unless it is set onto this ring. The  
  
ring was stolen over a hundred years and never heard of again."  
  
"But...how did it get into my time?"  
  
"I'm not sure. You say you are from a different world? Is that the truth?"  
  
"Yes, I am. Everything here is very unfamiliar to me. And nobody here looks or dresses  
  
like me."  
  
"I can taste the truth in your words. But how did a mortal come upon the ring?"  
  
"Child, where did you find the ring?" asked the queen.  
  
"In this very old building. I saw it glittering on the ground and I picked it up. Then...I  
  
was here. And he", Kagome pointed at Inuyasha. "Knocked me out and took me here."  
  
"Keh, you were in league with the fox brat."  
  
Kagome's bracelet started to glow with anger, which immediately drew the king and  
  
queen's attention to it.  
  
"Is that some sort of weapon? Why is it glowing?"  
  
"Erm...uh.." Kagome stammered, trying to think of an excuse. The bracelet shivered for  
  
a moment then was followed by a POP. Shippo floated to the ground and gave a  
  
respected bow to the monarchs. Inuyasha started to growled and punched his fist into  
  
his palm in front of Shippo.  
  
"Shippo....so glad you could make it." he said. Kagome pulled the kitsune into the  
  
protection of her arms and glared at Inuyasha.  
  
"Hey, knock it off! He's just a kid!"  
  
"Yeah Inuyasha! Don't pick on poor little children!"  
  
"P-poor little children?!" This time Inuyasha stammered. He was about to jump on the  
  
kitsune when the king flicked a finger at Inuyasha, throwing him into the wall behind.  
  
He then nonchalently put his hand back on his lap.  
  
"Shippo, what did you do this time?" the king asked.  
  
"Nothing." he said, wide-eyed.  
  
The queen gave a stern look at the kitsune, making him feel guilty.  
  
"Just....droppedastatueonhishead." he said in a blur.  
  
"Not again, Shippo! We've had these talks before!" cried out the queen in an exasperated  
  
tone.Kagome looked back and forth at the two, a sweatdrop on her forehead. *Mou?!  
  
This kind of thing happens all the time? Wouldn't it kill him?*  
  
"Inuyasha, this is not the time to sentence Shippo to everlasting time in the cells. Your  
  
birthday is tomorrow and I want everything to go smoothly." berated the queen.  
  
Inuyasha bowed his head.  
  
"Yes, mother."  
  
"You are dismissed..now, as for you mortal."  
  
The queen laid a hand on her husband's shoulder.  
  
"You don't have to refer to her as mortal all the time, she does have a name."  
  
"Right, right. What's your name again?"  
  
"Higurashi Kagome."  
  
"Now, Kagome...Inuyasha, what are you doing standing there? You are dismissed."  
  
Inuyasha stomped out of the room, clearly in a sour disposition.  
  
"Kagome, I will have my scholars dig up what they can find on the Lost Ring and the  
  
Shikon in our libraries. So for now, you may stay in the palace in one of our rooms.  
  
Dear, can you handle the rest?"  
  
"Of course, go on ahead and sleep. I'll take care of this."  
  
The king nodded and stifled a yawn as he rose up and gracefully walked to the door. The  
  
doors opened on their own accord and quietly shut behind him. The queen turned her  
  
bright eyes onto Kagome.  
  
"Earlier, the king said that there was only one mortal in this land. Do you know who that  
  
is?" She remarked.  
  
Kagome looked closely at the queen and could see almost invisible wrinkles by the  
  
corner of her eyes. So far, all the youkai she had seen today were young and flawless.  
  
"Y....you?! You are the only mortal??"  
  
The queen smiled at Kagome's shock.  
  
"There was a small colony of humans in the Eastern Forests bordering this kingdom, the  
  
last I believe. My whole family and everybody in the colony died from starvation.  
  
What food was left was given to me, the youngest one. I started walking through the  
  
forests and almost died when the king saved me. He was out looking for the colony of  
  
humans that supposedly lived in the forest. A few years later, we were married. And  
  
that was five decades ago."  
  
"Five.....you're over 60 years old? How can you look so young?"  
  
"Marriage in this land is binding when two souls are complete with each other. The two  
  
lovers become one in mind and body. In my case, I gained the king's immortality while  
  
he gained some of my mortal blood."  
  
"Sugoi.... marriage in my land isn't binding at all, except on paper."  
  
"What a strange land you live in.... we must discuss more of this later. For now, I will  
  
assign you a room in my quarters. I'll lend you my cousin's room, which should be  
  
suitable. And Inuyasha's birthday is tomorrow so I will have my maids lend you one of  
  
my robes. I know this is all in short notice, but I promise that we will have more  
  
information on the Shikon in a few days."  
  
The queen clapped her hands and a maid appeared from what appeared to be a hidden  
  
passage behind a curtain. She whispered a command in the maid's ear.  
  
"Kagome, follow this maid to your room. I'll talk to you some more tomorrow. Good  
  
night."  
  
The maid her led her out of the room and down a long hallway till she stopped in front  
  
of a pair of richly decorated rooms. Inside showed an even more ostentatiosly  
  
decorated room. It held a long table with cranes and lilies bordering the dark, shiny  
  
wood. Beautiful works of art hung in long banners down the cream colored walls. There  
  
was a pot of hot tea in the middle of the table and thick cushions surrounding it. The  
  
maid slid another pair of doors to show an elegant bedroom. It was light purple  
  
everywhere except the wooden chests of clothes. The futon was covered with purple  
  
blankets and pillows of every shade. And it was brightly lit by several lamps. While  
  
Kagome was in awe of the room, the maid had quietly exited. When Kagome had turned  
  
around there was a white sleeping robe hanging by a changing screen. *Everything is so  
  
old fashioned* The silk of the robe gave Kagome shivers of delight when it touched her  
  
skin. The richness of the robe made her really wonder how wealthy this family was. She  
  
blew the candles out and snuggled into more silk. She stared up at the dark, hearing no  
  
sounds of automobiles at all. Did she really get transported to another world?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sounds of birds chirping content songs woke her. Sunlight drifted in through a small  
  
window that was placed high in a wall, not in the middle. Her mother hadn't woken her  
  
up...she quickly sat up and remembered everything that had happened last night. The  
  
ring, the Shikon, the king and queen, Inuyasha. For just a second, it had felt like a mere  
  
dream but seeing the room made it reality. With a sigh she got up and open the shoji  
  
door that led to the next room. A steaming breakfast had already been set on the table  
  
by a diligent servant. Plain Japanese food for a simple breakfast. At least some  
  
traditions hadn't changed. She was eating when there was a quiet knock at her door. The  
  
person didn't wait and slid it open. A girl Kagome's age stepped in and gave a polite  
  
bow.  
  
"Her Royal Majesty has made me your maid. She insists that you dress for his Royal  
  
Highness's birthday today."  
  
"There's no need for formalities here, please?" Kagome insisted, motioning for the girl to  
  
sit down. She gave a confused look but obeyed.  
  
"I'm Higurashi Kagome and I am not a youkai, I'm a human. So what's your name?"  
  
The girl gave a shocked look.  
  
"H-human??? You're a human?!" The girl's jaw dropped and Kagome began to wonder if  
  
this was how everybody was going to react whenever she told them. Perhaps it was  
  
better not to say anything at all.  
  
"I'm sorry, my lady. My name is Sango and I must begin dressing you or else there will  
  
be no time. The ceremonies for the prince begins in three hours."  
  
"Three hours?! That's plenty of time!" Kagome exclaimed as Sango began to usher her  
  
back into her sleeping room. The maid began to open the many chests to reveal dozens  
  
of different colored kimonos. Fingering through every cloth, she finally picked out a sea  
  
blue kimono with red flowers dancing around the collar and sleeves. After three hours  
  
of tying the obi properly Kagome was finally done. Sango had tried her hardest to  
  
persude the girl to wear some jewelry or face make up, but Kagome was adamant on the  
  
subject.  
  
"Nope, no way. I'm not getting my face painted like a ghost with blood red lips. It's  
  
creepy and I prefer the natural look anyway."  
  
"But...my lady, there will be so many other women-"  
  
"Don't worry Sango, I'm not afraid of being different. I'm human after all, right?"  
  
Kagome gave a wink and left the room, carefully sliding the door shut behind her.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was so incredibly boring. The ceremonies were long and monotonous. Basically, a  
  
whole bunch of weird looking youkai came to the prince, expressing their  
  
congratulations on becoming 18 years old. But the line of well wishers, oh the endless  
  
line, seemed to go on and on. Two hours of "We congratulate his royal highness for  
  
reaching the age of 18" only in many different ways and in lots of fancy and colorful  
  
words that Kagome couldn't even comprehend. It was amazing how many ways you  
  
could say one sentence. She lost count after 76 and drifted off into a daydream. She had  
  
been given the supreme honor of sitting next to the prince. Meaning she couldn't laze  
  
around in the back and fall asleep. It meant she had to struggle to keep closing eyes  
  
open and at least look somewhat attentive. Finally, when the last person had  
  
congratulated Inuyasha lunch was served. Of course, lunch was just as boring.  
  
Everybody had moved into a long dining room that must have seated over three  
  
hundred people. Kagome was sat between an old ambassador from some foreign  
  
country and a little girl who didn't know how to eat properly, spilling food more often  
  
than not on Kagome's lap. But she held on with her patience, however strained it was  
  
and kept a cheery demeaner plastered over her bored to death face. *It has to be a  
  
test, it must be. To see if I'll crack under extreme torture or not* After another two  
  
hours passing by, Kagome was finally excused and she almost sprinted to her rooms.  
  
Sango was waiting peacefully inside, sewing on some cloth. Kagome dropped her mask  
  
and began to scowl as she changed out of her food stained clothes.  
  
"I can't BELIEVE it. Did you know how long and stupid that ceremony was going to be?"  
  
Kagome asked her maid with narrowed eyes. "It was torture!! I can't BELIEVE that they  
  
do this for every single one of his birthdays!!"  
  
Sango had already predicted how Kagome might react and had laid out less formal  
  
clothes. Kagome told Sango the details of what had happened in the space of four  
  
interminable hours while she slipped into the clothes. Sango gave a giggle as Kagome  
  
stomped out, liking her mistress more by the minute.  
  
"At least it only happens once a year." Sango pointed out.  
  
"Once is enough." Kagome grumbled. "I'm going walking."  
  
She looked right and left, wondering which direction to pick. She decided on the  
  
opposite direction of where all the ceremonies had taken place. Without remembering  
  
any specific halls, she wandered aimlessly till she came to a door that led outside. She  
  
gave a groan, of course she ends up taking the door that led right into the middle of the  
  
festivities. That is...if you call more nobles and such sucking up to the prince. She  
  
spotted Inuyasha in a crowd full of girls. He looked extremely awkward from the giggles  
  
and little touches that the females were giving and Kagome could feel pity for him. She  
  
had only experienced the so called birthday ceremonies once, he had to go through it  
  
for 18 years. She pushed her way through until she reached him. Grabbing his hand, she  
  
took off in a run, taking the advantage of the other girls being constricted in their heavy  
  
many layered kimonos. Kagome stopped when they were well within the coverage that  
  
a small forest gave.  
  
"Thanks." He said gruffly, looking away from her face as he caught his breath.  
  
"Consider it my birthday present." Kagome said happily, pleased that an obnoxious  
  
prince like him could actually give gratitude.  
  
"What? THAT'S your idea of a birthday present?" Inuyasha said, clearly shocked.  
  
Kagome's mouth dropped open at his blunt arrogance.  
  
"Excuse ME, your ROYAL HIGHNESS for not being one of those snotty princesses in  
  
there! You baka!" Kagome slapped the back of his head and began to walk away.  
  
*Honestly! I go out of my way to get him out of that crowd of brainless dimwits, and all  
  
I get is a 'that's all'? Reminder to self: never save a prince!!*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kagome gave a groan when she came back to her rooms, her maid bearing more bad  
  
news. She flopped down on one of the thick cushions in her sitting room and gave a  
  
deep sigh.  
  
"It's eternal, isn't? Of course, what's a birthday without a long ceremony of  
  
congratulations, sucking up, and a ball? Sango, do I have to go?" Kagome begged. Her  
  
maid gave a sad smile and shook her head.  
  
"Under orders of her Royal Majesty. Come, I picked out something for you already. I  
  
know I know, there is no makeup or jewelry involved. Though, I must do something  
  
with your hair..."  
  
Sango brought out the kimono she had picked. It was another blue kimono, only in a  
  
softer tone that reminded Kagome of the blue found in her own eyes.  
  
"Kirei." She touched the material, silk, what else could it be? Upon seeing her approval,  
  
Sango began to pull off the clothes that Kagome had on and dressed her in the kimono.  
  
Regretably, the hair took the longest this time. Sango had teased, curled, pinned, and  
  
pulled until she was finally pleased with her creation. The effect was a mass of her hair  
  
put into a high tail but with many curly wisps of hair floating all around. As Sango had  
  
promised, she had no jewelry or make up waiting. But she did put in a flower or two of  
  
jasmine in her hair.  
  
"Perfect. And because of my timing, you will be fashionably late." Sango beamed as  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes while leaving. After getting directions from a servant she finally  
  
found the ballroom. It was spacious and fitted hundreds of people well with lots of  
  
room to spare. Glass chandeliers imported from some other country decorated the  
  
ceiling that was painted to show a cloud filled sky. There were tall windows with equally  
  
tall curtains that were tied off to the side. Though she tried to sneak into the room as  
  
stealthily as possible, many eyes turned to see the late girl. Cursing softly at herself, she  
  
tried to go back but a man quickly came up to her. He was quite tall and dressed in a  
  
fawn colored kimono in which he looked out of place in. He had a wolfish grin on his  
  
face and Kagome glanced at a tail that was waving around. He gave a bow and lifted an  
  
arm.  
  
"If I may be so bold to ask for a dance?" He smiled again, showed a set of canines.  
  
Wanting everybody to stop looking at her she quickly accepted. For all his roughish  
  
appearance, he was a smooth dancer. They were enjoying a second one when someone  
  
cut in.  
  
"Oy, wolf boy, what are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked, glaring at him. "And what are  
  
you doing dancing around with my guest?" He looked at the rather intimate embrace  
  
that Kouga had with Kagome.  
  
"I was being polite Inuyasha, unlike some youkai I know. If you'll excuse us, you  
  
interrupted a rather invigorating dance."  
  
"Go dance with Ayume, she's been itching to have one with you all night."  
  
At the sound of her name a young girl hopped forward with an overeager smile on  
  
her face. Before he could object, Kouga was whirled away. Leaving Inuyasha and  
  
Kagome standing before each other, just staring. With a snort of disgust, he held out his  
  
arms and she took them. Though he was tense, he proved to be an even better dancer  
  
than Kouga. *Must have been the lessons* Kagome assured herself, but she couldn't  
  
help but admire how confidently he led her across the floor. When the dance was done  
  
she was quickly twirled off by another pair of arms before she could thank Inuyasha for  
  
the dance. The rest of the evening went on with a continuing exchange of different  
  
partners till Kagome felt like she had danced with every single man in the ballroom. By  
  
the time it was 1 in the morning, she felt like she was going to drop from where she was  
  
standing any second. Saying she was tired she managed to escape more overly  
  
courteous requests for dances. She was dragging her feet to her room when she realized  
  
that she had no clue where she was. With a groan she slid against the wall and sat down,  
  
her legs rejoicing the rest. Maybe she could just sleep here for the night. There was no  
  
way her legs were going to be able to stand up again, they wanted to stay just the way  
  
they were. She could hear the click of shoes in the hallway and she mentally scolded  
  
herself for sitting down. Now she was going to look like a drunk idiot who had fallen  
  
down in front of a complete stranger. The person stopped in front of her for a minute  
  
then bent down and lifted her up in his arms.  
  
"Hey! Aren't you being a bit too familiar?!" Kagome argued as the man began to walk  
  
down the dark hallway. When they passed by a candle she gaped at the person holding  
  
her in his arms.  
  
"Inuyasha? What in the world are you doing?"  
  
"You're obviously too weak to walk and you probably don't even know where your  
  
room even is."  
  
Kagome raised a finger. "I do know where my room is."  
  
"Oh? So where is it?" Inuyasha asked.  
  
"Um....somewhere in the palace?" Kagome answered innocently, a halo forming above  
  
her head.  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "It's right next to my room."  
  
"Eh? It is? Since when?"  
  
"Since you got here."  
  
He stopped and knocked on the door to her rooms. Sango opened it and immediately  
  
sprang to attention when she saw the prince. She slid the door open all the way and  
  
moved to let the prince in. He sat her down on her futon.  
  
"Can you take care of the rest?" He asked Kagome.  
  
"Of course." She snapped at him. "I'm not some helpless-oh never mind."  
  
"You know, you're pretty interesting for such a weak human."  
  
Before Kagome could answer back he closed the door and left.  
  
"Baka." She mumbled for the umpteenth time.  
  
__________________________________________________________________  
  
*It's done!!!! After such a long time without updating, it's FINALLY done. Whew, I wanted to really make up for all the lost time so I made this chapter extra long. Hope you enjoyed it a lot!!!! And Kagome is a bit OOC in this chapter, but I'll try not to make her overly OOC in the story. but hey, wouldn't you be irritated if you attended a really boring birthday that lasted for hours? And don't forget a long, meaningful review on what you think of the story so far, any flaws you see, spelling/grammer mistakes, and so forth. of course, I willingly accept praise on the story as well. *beams in happiness* and for those who are reading my other stories, I've updated all of them as well. unfortunately, I had to take off Trial of the Shikon Guardians because I lost my interest in that story. I thought the plot itself was unique, but I just couldn't think of anyway to get it starting again. Someone else could use the storyline if they want to, I don't mind. But I know I can't think of anything for the story. 


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